George  IVashiyigton  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DL'KK  UNlVKRSn  Y  I.inRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 

FAMILY  OK 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


»»«mo»j«v^      ix»-r<-^» 


A    NATION'S    a  B  E  N  BTZ  E  R. 


ADISCOURSE         ^\ 


DELIVERED    IN    THE    BROAD    ST.   METHODIST   CHURCH,    ' 


RICHINlONr),  VIRGINIA, 


THURSDAY,  SEPTEMBER  18,  1362 


THE  DAY  OF  PUBLIC  THANKSGIVING, 


APPOINTED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CONFEDBRATZ  STATES. 


BY  REY.  D.  S.  DOGGETT,  D.  D. 


PUBLISHED  BY    SPECIAL  REQUEST. 


RICHMOND,  YA. : 

ENQUIKER  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRESS 

1862. 


CeilRESPONDENCE 

Sept.  19,  1862. 


*  Richmond,  Sept 

Rev.  Dr.  Doggktt, 

Dear  Sir  :  Having  heard  witli  unfeigned  pleasure,  the 
very  admiraMe  and  able  discourse  which  you  delivered  on 
Thursday,  the  ISth  instant,  the  day  designated  in  the  Presi- 
dent's proclamation  for  thanksgiving  and  prayer,  the  under- 
signed would  most  respectfully  ask  the  favor  of  you  to  fur- 
nish them  a  manuscript  copy  of  said  discourse,  with  a  view 
to  its  publication. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 
J.  W.  MooRc,  David  Clopton, 

John  P.  Rai.ls,  F.  B.  Sexton. 

Thomas  Meneks. 


IIo.N.  J.  W.  MooRK,  David  Clopton,  John  P.   Ralls,  F.  B. 
Sexton  and  Thomas  Meneks  : 

Gentlemen  :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  herewith 
place,  at  your  disposal,  a  manuscript  copy  of  the  discourse 
delivered  on  the  18th  ultimo,  which  you  heard,  and  which 
you  were  pleased  to  solicit  for  publication.  ^ly  delay  in 
furnishing  the  enclosed  manuscript  has  been  occasioned  by 
a  variety  of  causes  which  it  is  needless  to  mention.  Nor 
am  I  satisfied  with  my  effort  to  reproduce  what,  to  so  great 
an  extent,  was  delivered  extempore.  While  I  have  endea- 
vored to  preserve  its  original  tenor,  I  have  deviated,  as  you 
will  perceive,  not  unfreijuently,  into  new  forms  of  expres- 
sion, and  have  also  employed  a  greater  degree  of  condensation 
than  I  did  in  the  pulpit.  I  ho])e,  however,  you  will  be  able 
readily  to  recognize  its  general  identity  in  the  following 
pages,  and  that  your  kindness  will  not  be  abused  by  a  peru- 
sal of  them. 

With  high  regards,  I  am,  gentlemen. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

D.  S.  DOGGETT. 

Richmond,  Va.,  Oct.  3,  1862. 


33  6iD4>)f 


A  NATION'S  EBENEZER. 


j^  sjbr,m:on. 


Then  Samuel  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  between  Mizpeh  and  Shcn, 
and  called  the  name  of  it  Ebenezer,  saying,  hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us. — I.  Samuel,  7  :  12. 

We  have  assembled,  to-daj,  to  perform  an  act  in  exact 
analogy,  and  almost  identical  with  that  which  is  celebrated 
in  the  language  of  our  text.  Both  scenes  are  commemora- 
tive ;  both  are  memorials  of  great  victories ;  both  signalize 
the  special  interposition  of  Divine  Providence.  When 
ancient  nations  engaged  in  war,  they  consulted  their  ora- 
cles, oftered  sacrifices,  and  invoked  their  deities.  W^hen  they 
were  successful,  they  not  only  honored  their  heroes,  hut  de- 
posited their  trophies  in  the  temples  of  their  gods.  We  have 
a  brighter  example  to  follow,  this  morning,  than  the  mis- 
guided devotions  of  ancient  pagans,  and  more  hallowing  re- 
collections to  cherish  than  ever  clustered  around  their  cost- 
liest oblations.  In  the  clear  light  of  the  world's  meridian, 
and  in  the  very  centre  of  its  Avondering  gaze,  we  meet,  as  a 
nation,  in  Christian  temples,  to  present  our  homage  to  the 
living  and  the  true  God,  and  to  erect,  on  the  wayside  of  our 
strange  and  eventful  history,  a  national  Ebenezer  ;  to  in- 
scribe upon  its  lofty  column  and  to  transmit  to  posterity  the 
highest  and  the  holiest  of  all  our  convictions;  *'  Hitherto 
hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 

To  preserve  the  consistency,  and  to  sustain,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  propriety  of  our  subject,  we  shall  attempt, 

I.  To  delineate  the  remarkable  analoirue  which  the  text 


3';'C331 


4  anation'sebenezer. 

records ;  to   analyze  the   example  whicli   it  so   graphically 
recounts. 

1 .  D  uring  the  incumbency  of  Eli  and  his  sons,  in  the  priest- 
hood, corruption  had  diffused  its  virus  through  the  whole 
body  of  the  people.  An  universal  relaxation  in  religion  and 
morals  ensued;  the  Ark  itself,  the  mystic  symbol  and  the 
sacred  repository  of  their  faith,  had  been  captured;  and  .for 
twenty  years,  the  nation  had  groaned  under  the  exacting 
tyranny  of  a  barbarous  race.  At  length,  as  if  self-moved, 
a  healthful  reaction  manifested  itself  in  the  public  mind ; 
a  spirit  of  reformation  seemed  instinctively  to  circulate 
amongst  the  community  and  to  express  itself,  at  least,  in 
lamentations  over  their  wretched  servility.  Samuel,  the 
sole  representative  amongst  them,  of  a  once  pure  and  influ- 
ential order  of  men,  perceived,  with  patriotic  emotions,  the 
auspicious  symptom,  and  determined  to  improve  it.  He 
summoned  a  convocation  of  the  tribes  at  a  little  town  by  the 
name  of  Mizpeh  ;  a  name  perpetuated  by  the  event.  The 
people  met  in  obedience  to  the  summons,  at  the  time  and 
place  appointed,  and  celebrated  the  occasion  by  acts  of  hu- 
miliation and  prayer  before  God.  Samuel  appeared  amongst 
them  in  his  official  character. 

2.  The  object  of  this  general  convention  was,  in  accor- 
dance with  the  original  summons,  exclusively  religious.  It 
was  merely  a  reformatory  measure  adopted  by  the  prophet. 
No  other  provision  was  consequently  made,  than  was  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  its  pious  design.  The  rulers  of  the 
Philistines,  however,  regarded  it  in  a  very  different  light. 
Their  suspicions  were  aroused.  It  was,  in  their  estimation, 
a  political  gathering  to  concoct  plans  for  an  insurrection. 
They  determined,  at  once,  to  crush  it,  and  marched  imme- 
diately with  armed  forces  to  attack  and  demolish  the  rebel- 
lious encampment.  Terror-stricken  at  the  approach  of  their 
enemies,  especially  unprepared  as  they  were  for  self-defence, 
no  alternative  suggested  itself  but  an  appeal  to  Samuel  to 
cry  to  God  without  cessation  in  their  behalf;  fully  persuaded, 
that  in  such  an  emergency,  h:  alone  could  effect  their  de- 


A  nation's  ebenezer. 


liver^i'oe.  The  patriot-prophet  gladly  accepted  the  invita- 
tion, offered  a  sacrifice,  and  interceded  for  his  countrymen. 
It  was  an  awful  hour ;  an  hour  big  with  results ;  with  anni- 
hilation or  a  miracle  ! 

3.  While  Samuel  was  occupied  in  these  solemn  exercises, 
the  Philistines  drew  up  in  line  of  battle.  Suddenly,  so  to 
speak,  a  concealed  battery,  from  heaven,  opened  its  dread 
artillery  upon  the  impious  invaders,  and  swept  with  destruc- 
tion their  serried  ranks ;  for  ''  the  Lord  thundered  with  a 
great  thunder  on  that  day  upon  the  Philistines,  and  discom- 
fitted  them."  Smitten  with  a  panic,  they  broke  and  fled, 
scattering  their  c.piJnmcnts  in  the  track  of  their  flicrht 
Emboldened  by  so  wonderful  a  rescue,  the  Israelites,  seizing 
the  abandoned  arms,  started  in  pursuit,  and  chased  the  fu- 
gitives within  their  own  confines.  The  enemy  were  thorough- 
ly routed.     The  victory  was  complete. 

4.  So  miraculous  an  event  could  not  be  allowed  to  pass 
from  memory.     When  the   conquerors  returned,  and  were 
re-assembled,  a  simple  but  imposing  ceremony  commemora- 
ted the  great  occasion.     Neither  artist  nor  chisel  were  present 
to  impart  expression,  or  to  add  polish  to  marble  or  to  granite. 
The  inspired  actor  extemporized  a  memorial.     Selecting  a 
rude  stone  from  the  adjacent  field,  and  in  the  presence  and 
silence  of  the  worshipping  assembly,  he  set  it  up  and  con- 
secrated it  as  a  monument  of  the   ever  memorable  victory 
which  God  had  wrought,   tliat   day,  in  Israel.     Rude  as  it 
was,  it  caught,  embodied,  and  stereotyped  a  grand  idea ;  a 
fundamental  principle,  as   well  as  an  illustrious  fact.     It 
would  remind  the  present  generation  ;  it  would  teach  future 
generations,  when  passing  that  way,  how   the   God  of  their 
fathers  had  defeated  their  enemies,  and  fulfilled  his   cove- 
nant.    And  as  names  are  something  more  than   sounds,  es- 
pecially such   descriptive   epithets,   as  were  common  to  the 
Hebrew  vocabulary,  he  solemnized  the  ceremony  by  confer- 
ing  upon  the  stone  the  significant  title  of  ''  Ebenezer;"  the 
stone  of  help ;  the  stone  which  recalled  the  interposition  of 
God  at  the  battle  of  Mizpeh. 


3^orj.'ii 


6  anation'sebenezer. 

Having,  tlius  far,  reviewed  the  instructive  example  re- 
counted in  our  text,  we  proceed, 

II.  To  inquire  into  the  existence  of  a  corresponding  ob- 
ligation upon  ourselves ;  the  obligation  of  raising  a  national 
Ebenezer   to  the  God  of  battles. 

It  behooves  us,  first  of  all,  to  ascertain  the  grounds  upon 
which  this  obligation  rests ;  to  search  for  them ;  to  satisfy 
ourselves  that  we  do  not  act  from  a  blind  impulse,  however 
sincere;  that,  upon  reflection,  we  shall  approve  of  our  con- 
duct when  the  exultation  of  the  hour  shall  have  subsided. 
Let  us  investigate  the  question  whether,  in  reality.  Divine 
Providence  has  put  forth  his  hand  in  our  recent  national 
struggles. 

All  our  inquiries,  mathematical  or  philosophical,  must 
commence  with  some  acknowledged  fact ;  some  admitted  pro- 
position, in  order  to  render  our  conclusions  certain.  Hap- 
pily we  enjoy  this  advantage  to  day.  Within  the  period  re- 
ferred to  in  these  services,  our  efforts,  as  a  nation,  have  been 
crowned  with  undoubted  success ;  with  success  the  most  re- 
markable ;  with  success  the  most  marvellous  in  the  annals 
of  war.  Within  three  months,  the  enemy  has  been  driven 
from  every  battle-field,  and  the  whole  character  of  the  war 
has  been  reversed.  He  is  now  on  the  defensive ;  we,  after 
a  rapid  and  brilliant  succession  of  victories,  are  on  the  ag- 
gressive. 

To  what  cause  are  these  victories  to  be  ascribed  ?  Human 
agencies  have  entered  largely  into  the  campaign.  They 
have  been  vigorously  applied,  and  have,  perhaps,  accom- 
plished all  that  such  agencies  can  accomplish.  Nor  will 
a  grateful  and  admiring  country  be  slow  to  award  to 
them  their  full  meed  of  praise.  But  are  our  successes 
due  exclusively  to  military  preparations,  to  the  skill- 
ful combinations  of  commanding  generals,  and  to  the  heroic 
energy  and  self-sacrifice  of  our  citizen  soldiery  ?  Can  we, 
ought  we  to  account  for  them  on  this  hypothesis  alone  ?  Do 
we  not  discover  another  element  in  them  ?  Is  it  a  fond  de- 
lusion, a  superstitious  caprice  into  which  we  have  fallen  ? 


A  nation's  ebenezer. 


Must  we  arrogate  the  whole  honor  to  ourselves  ?  Must  not 
God  receive  his  rightful  tribute  at  our  hands  ?  To  all  these 
questions  wc  reply ; 

1.  That  the  spontaneous  and  universal  sentiment  evinced 
in  the  hour  of  our  successes,  indicates  the  interposition  of 
God.  Great  force  of  truth  must  be  attached  to  the  unso- 
phisticated convictions  of  a  whole  people  frankly  avowed. 
The  presumption  is  al  rays  in  favor  of  the  reality  of  those 
convictions.  There  is  a  time  when  human  nature  speaks  its 
genuine  language;  when  the  voice  of  truth  bursts,  as  it  were, 
instinctively  from  the  bosoms  of  men,  and  proclaims,  by  a 
species  of  natural  revelation,  from  the  oracle  of  an  awakened 
consciousness,  its  testimony  to  the  grandest  of  all  doctrines. 
It  was  so  in  the  moment  of  our  recent  triumphs.  When 
they  were  yet  fresh  in  our  memories,  the  whole  country  re- 
sounded with  the  praise  of  God.  Not  only  the  preacher  in 
his  sermon,  and  the  christian  at  his  prayers,  but  those  un- 
accustomed to  the  exercises  of  piety,  felt  and  acknowledged 
the  hand  of  God.  If  contrary  opinions  were  entertained, 
they  were  suppressed  amidst  the  almost  unanimous  ut- 
terai^ccs  of  a  better  faith.  Now,  I  maintain,  that  this  spon- 
taneous sentiment  of  the  people  indicates  the  fact  of  an  ac- 
tual exhibition  of  Divine  power  in  our  successes ;  that  it 
was  a  trustworthy  exponent  of  the  principle  asserted  in  our 
text :  ^'  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 

2.  The  part  which  God  may  rationally  be  presumed  to 
take  in  all  righteous  wars,  justifies  the  same  conclusion. 
From  our  knowledge  of  his  perfections,  as  the  Ruler  of  the 
universe,  and  of  his  relations  to  the  creatures  of  his  hand, 
it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  he  cannot  be,  like  the  Olympian 
Jove,  an  idle  spectator  of  such  events  as  involve  the  inte-? 
rests  of  whole  nations,  and  as  are  fraught  with  issues  the 
most  tremendous  both  present  and  prospective.  Wars  af- 
fect the  destinies  of  mankind  and  the  progress  of  society. 
Wars  change  the  current  of  history.  Wars  are  related  to 
the  propagation  of  the  gospel;  Wars  have  the  characteris- 
tics of  a  retributive  administration.     Wars  are  disciplina- 


A  nation's  ebenezer. 


ry  in  their  results.  Now.  if  our  ideas  of  God  are  cor- 
rect, he  must  not  only  feel  an  infinite  concern  in  what  so 
deeply  agitates  the  human  race,  but  he  must  interfere.  lie 
must  approve,  he  must  take  sides  with  the  right,  though 
many  of  the  instrumentalities  employed  may  not  be  accept- 
able to  him.  He  will  not  suffer  public  justice  and-integrity 
to  struggle  unaided  in  a  never  ceasing  whirl  of  conflict  with 
the  elements  of  iniquity.  It  cannot  be  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  him,  whether  the  right  or  the  wrong  shall  triumph  in  his 
own  government.  He  must  put  forth  his  own  prerogative  to 
support  the  one  and  to  arrest  the  other,  by  such  methods  as 
are  agreeable  to  his  will.  In  the  bloody  tragedies  through 
which  we  have  just  passed,  and  from  which  we  have  so  sig- 
nally emerged,  God  has  looked  down  from  his  throne  upon 
us  with  paternal  solicitude,  and  according  to  the  rectitude  of 
our  cause,  we  are  constrained  to  conclude  that  his  al- 
mighty hand  has  wrought  our  deliverance,  and  to  exclaim 
with  equal  piety  and  truth,  *'  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped 


us." 


3.   Another  consideration  favorable  to  our  position,  is  the 
reliance  of  a  people  in  their  national  struggles,  upon  God, 
and  not  upon  themselves,  in   connection  with  their  succes- 
ses.    When,  in  the  sincerity  of  their  purposes,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  their  dependence,  they  have  appealed  to  him 
and  supplicated  his  aid,  and  have  more  than  realized  their 
expectations ;  if  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect  be  not  ab- 
solutely apparent,  that  of  antecedent  and  result  cannot  be 
mistaken.     Never,  perhaps,  in  the  course  of  national  vicis- 
situdes, was  there  on  so  large  a  scale,  such  implicit  a  reli- 
ance upon  Divine  Providence ;  so  general  an  invocation  of 
the  Divine  blessing,  as  there  was,  from  one  end  of  this  Con- 
federacy to  the  other,  immediately  preceding  and  during 
the  enactment  of  those  tragic    scenes,  the    conclusion    of 
which   we   this   day    commemorate.       Trust    inspired    the 
national  heart ;  prayer  poured  forth,  at  a  thousand  altars, 
from  national  lips,  that  the  God  of   armies  would    arise  in 
bis  majesty  and  espouse  the  cause  of  an  injured  country. 


anation'sebenezer.  "9 

In  these  affecting  exhibitions,  victory  perclied  upon  our 
banners.  Who  can  doubt  whetlier  she  descended  from 
heaven,  in  merciful  condescension  to  our  petitions;  and 
whether,  *'  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us  V 

4.  The  inequality  in  the  contest  between  us  and  our  ene- 
mies demonstrates  the  interposition  of  God.  War,  with 
equal  advantages  on  each  side,  is,  humanly  speaking,  a  game 
of  chances,  in  which  unexpected  results  may  surprise  either 
of  the  parties.  It  is  a  game  so  complicated  in  its  elements, 
that  uncertainties  and  misgivings  are  inseparable  from  its 
operations.  Even  in  such  a  case,  success  on  the  side  of 
justice  must  be  ascribed  to  supernatural  agency,  rather  than 
to  the  influence  of  natural  causes,  how  potential  soever 
they  may  have  been.  Wlien,  however,  the  decided  majority 
of  human  and  natural  advantages  are  arrayed  against  the 
right,  and  display  all  their  intensity  to  defeat  it,  and  arc 
utterly  abortive,  natural  causes  are  then  counteracted, 
human  calculations,  so  confidently  believed,  are  outwitted, 
and  the  issue  proves  that  an  extraneous  power  has  decided 
the  contest.  In  a  word,  that  God  has  overruled  the  boasted  ar- 
rangements of  man,  that  he  might  vindicate  the  supremacy 
of  his  moral  government.  Was  ever  a  contest  more  un- 
equal in  all  natural  means  of  success,  than  that  into 
which  the  Confederate  States  have  been  plunged  ?  Did  ever 
an  enemy  confide  in  human  appliances  with  higher  certainty, 
or  with  more  plausibility,  as  if  he  were  solving  a  problem 
which  admitted  of  no  other  conclusion  than  in  his  fiivor  ? 
And  yet,  his  processes  have  disappointed  him,  and  the  solu- 
tion has  inured  to  the  feebler  side.  Who  but  God,  so  to 
speak,  has  conducted  the  argument  ?  Who,  but  he,  has 
proven  that  **  the  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  neither  the  battle 
to  the  strong  ?"  **  Verily,  there  is  a  reward  for  the  righteous  ; 
verily,  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth''  f 

0.  The  completeness  of  the  success  which  has  attended 
our  arms,  is  a  proof  of  the  interposition  of  God.  If  our  suc- 
cess itself,  under  the  conditions  of  the  war,  proves  that 
fact,  how  much  more  does  the  definitive  character  o?  the  sue- 


10  A    nation's    EBENEZER, 

cess  prove  it  ?  I  do  not  assume  that  our  victories  have  been^ 
virtually  decisive  of  the  entire  contest.  But  so  far  as  they 
bave  progressed,  they  have  been  complete  in  themselves. 
They  have  been  decided  and  effectual  victories.  If  the  enemy 
bas  not  been  entirely  captured  or  annihilated,  as  may  have 
been  desired,  no  uncertainty  now  rests  upon  the  public  mind 
as  to  the  immediate  and,  as  we  trust,  the  permanent  results- 
of  those  victories.  His  purposes  have  been  thwarted,  hi» 
plans  have  been  crushed,  his  army  has  been  disorganized,, 
and  the  whole  line  of  his  movements  has  receded  from  prox- 
imity to  our  Capital  to  the  fortifications  of  his  own,  and  is 
still  receding  towards  the  banks  of  the  Ohio;  so  that  a  radi- 
cal change  has  been  wrought  in  the  character  and  complexion 
oi  the  war.  Thus  far,  our  success  has  been  complete,  and 
the  unanimous  sense  of  relief  and  hope  corresponds  with  it. 
The  burden  of  apprehension  is  rolled  from  our  shoulders, 
and  the  buoyancy  of  our  feelings  has  returned  to  its  wonted 
channels.  It  is  in  this  definite  issue,  that  we  have  reason  to 
recognize  the  hand  of  God.  The  work  of  man  is  imperfect, 
and  the  hand  of  man  would  have  left  that  issue  doubtful. 
God  has  set  his  seal  upon  it.  The  path  of  his  Providence 
has  been  a  path  of  light ;  and  we  may  assert,  with  perfect 
confidence  :  ''  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 

6.  The  ends  which  have  been  attained  by  these 
yictories  illustrate  the  hand  of  God  in  them.  They  are' 
ends  worthy  of  God,  worthy  of  a  virtuous  people,  and  honora- 
ble to  humanity.  There  is  nothing  in  them  that  implicates 
the  moral  character,  or  stains  the  national  escutcheon  of  the- 
Southern  States ;  nothing  of  which  they  have  cause  to  be 
ashamed,  or  by  which  they  can  be  reproached  by  enlight- 
ened nations,  or  by  the  awards  of  succeeding  generations. 
What  are  these  ends  ?  Are  they  rapine,  oppression, 
tyranny,  licentiousness,  anarchy,  irreligion  ?  No  !  They 
are  all  sublime.  They  are  the  rights  that  pertain  to  all 
freemen ;  the  rights  asserted,  by  our  forefathers,  m 
the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence ;  the  rights  of 
self-government,  self-proiection,  and  of  conscience ;  rights- 


ANATIONS'SEBENEZER.  11 

incorporated  in  the  original  charter  of  our  liberties ;  rights 
guaranteed  by  God  to  human  civilization  ;  rights  >denied  to 
us  by  a  spurious  and  a  fanatical  Administration.  These 
are  the  ends  for  which  we  are  yet  fighting,  and  which 
have  been  triumphantly  maintained  in  our  recent  successes. 
It  is  these  which  add  lustre  to  our  victories ;  which  embel- 
lish our  arms.  These  ends  are  the  gifts  of  God,  and  we 
may  repeat  with  heightened  adoration,  to  day,  *^  Hitherto 
the  Lord  hath  helped  us." 

7.  The  word  of  God,  taken  in  this  connection,  establishes 
the  truth  of  his  interposition.  For  this  purpose,  we  shall 
call  your  attention  to  the  selection  of  a  few  quotations: 
**  The  Lord  your  God  is  he  that  goeth  with  you  to  fight  for 
you,  against  your  enemies,  to  save  you.  The  Lord  hath 
driven  out  from  before  you  great  nations  and  strong ;  but 
as  for  you,  no  man  hath  been  able  to  stand  before  you  unto 
this  day.  It  is  God  that  avengeth  me,  and  that  bringeth 
down  the  people  under  me,  and  that  bringeth  me  forth  from 
mine  enemies  ;  thou,  also,  hast  lifted  me  upon  on  high  above 
them  that  rose  up  against  me ;  thou  hast  delivered  me  frOm 
the  violent  man.  Thou  hast  girded  me  with  strength  unto- 
the  battle ;  thou  hast  subdued  under  me  those  that  rose  up 
against  me.  It  is  he  who  giveth  salvation  unto  kings ;  who- 
delivereth  his  servant  from  the  hurtful  sword.  And  what 
shall  I  say  more  ?  for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gide- 
on, and  of  Barak,  and  of  Sampson,  and  of  Jephthae ;  of 
David  also,  and  of  Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets ;  who- 
through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness, 
obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched 
the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of 
weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned 
to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens." 

All  these  grounds  of  obligations  to  God  enter  into  the 
question  of  our  recent  victories,  and  demonstrate,  that  while 
human  instrumentalities  have  borne  a  conspicuous  and  an 
honored  part  in  them,  it  was  the  blessing  of  God  that  ren- 
dered them  successful.     To  make  this,  if  possible,  more  ex- 


•  '  c. 


12  A    N  A  T  I  0  N     S    E  B  E  N  E  Z  E  R  . 

plicit,  let  US  hastily    advert    to  a   few   particulars.     Recall 
the  vast,  the  inexhaustible   resources    of  our  enemy  in  the 
men  and  the  materials  of  war,  compared  with  our  own ;  his 
long,  diligent  and  elaborate   preparation  in  every  branch  of 
the  service,  naval  and  military;  his  malignant  and  inexora- 
ble determination  of  subjugation   and  destruction;  the  con- 
summate arrogance   of  his   expectations   repeatedly  avowed 
in  private  and  in  public,  on  the  platform  and  from  the  press, 
by  courier  and  by  telegraph ;  his  threatening  advances  and 
his  formidable  approaches  into  the  interior  of  our  territory, 
and  to  the  very  precincts  of  our  city  ;  the  devastation  which 
blasted  the  course  of  his  march ;   the  loss   of  property  and 
the  fli'^ht  of  refugees;   and  then   consider  the   recoil  of  his 
forces,  the  terrible  chastisement  which  he  has  received,  the 
humiliation  which  he  has  suffered,  his  expulsion  from  our  bor- 
ders, the   progress    of  our  arms,  and  the    prospect    of  our 
cause  ;  all  within  the    last  three    months.     Do  not  all  these 
facts  show,  without  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  "Hitherto 
hath  the  Lord  helped  us  ?" 

Having  examined,  at  sufficient  length,  the  grounds  of  our 
duty,  on  this  occasion,  it  remains  for  us, 

III.  To  contemplate  the  mode  of  its  fulfilment.  If  God 
has  performed  his  part  in  these  events,  he  must  receive  his 
share  of  the  honor.     That  honor  consists  ; 

1.  In  cherishing,  as  a  nation,  the  conviction  of  his  inter- 
position. This  conviction  has  been  produced  with  the  force 
of  an  intuition ;  and  for  the  time,  it  is  God's  memorial  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  ;  an  inscription  of  homage  engra- 
ven on  the  tablet  of  the  national  consciousness,  upon  which 
he  looks  with  approbation.  It  must  not  become  effaced. 
Neither  lapse  of  time,  nor  the  succession  of  events  must 
obliterate  its  traces.  The  tendency  of  our  natures  is  to  for- 
get God  when  the  miracles  of  his  Providence  have  merged 
into  the  tranquil  current  of  habitual  prosperity.  Against 
this  tendency  we  must  guard,  and  let  the  grateful  recogni- 
tion survive  in  all  its  original  freshness :  na}^  let  it  be  ad- 
mitted in  the  growing  fullness   of  its  import,  and   be  culti- 


anation'sebenezer.  13 

vated  and  expanded  amidst  the  garnered  fruits  of  our  future 
iireatness. 

2.   God  must  be  honored  by  the  national  lips.     The  glory 
of  our  achievements  should  be  ascribed  to  him.     Our  words 
must  coincide  with  the   facts,  and  with  our  convictions.  A 
verbal  acknowledgment   of  God  is   an  essential  part  of  his 
praise,  because  it  is  the  mode  by  which  we   evince  our  sin- 
cerity; by  which  we   convey  toothers   our,  appreciation  of 
Divine  Providence,  strengthen  the  general  impression  of  its 
superintendence,  and  swell  the  a,ggregate   amount  of  influ- 
ence in  behalf  of  the   truth.     To   suppress  our  testimony, 
in  this  respect,  when   recounting  our   victories ;  to  hesitate 
to  associate  them  with  the  name  and  the  character  of  him  by 
whom-  they  have  been  wrought,  is  disloyalty  to  him  and  an 
insult  to  his  majesty.     It  is  to  withhold  a  part  of  the  sac- 
rifice demanded  at  our  hands,  and  to  incur   the  guilt  of  na- 
tional ingratitude    to    the    Benefactor    whose    aid,  in  the 
moment  of  our  peril,  we   supplicated  and   received.     He  is 
*'  a  jealous  God,  and  his  glory  will  he  not  give  to  another  !" 
While,  therefore,  it  will    be  our  pleasure  and   our  pride  to 
eulogize  the  heroic  valor  of  the  living  and  the  dead,  in  this 
war;  while  conversation  shall  incidentally  repeat  their  fame, 
and  eloquence  more  formally  pronounce  their  panegyric; 
while  poetry  shall  weave   its   garland,  and  song  employ  its 
strains  for  them,  let  the  national  voice  utter  the  memory  of 
Sovereign   Goodness,  and  raise,  through  all    the  land,  the 
mighty  anthem  of  his  praise. 

3.  It  IS  the  duty  of  a  people,  so  eminently  distinguished 
as  we  have  been,  to  establish  amongst  us  the  permanent 
worship  of  God;  to  honor  his  sabbaths,  to  revere  his  name, 
to  frequent  his  altars,  and  to  diffuse  the  religion  of  the  Bible 
amongst  all  orders  of  society,  by  precept  and  example.  Ilis 
worship  is  a  memorial  to  him.  It  is  security  to  us.  The 
''  Bible,"  said  Chillingworth,  ''  is  the  religion  of  Protest- 
ants." It  is  more.  It  is  not  only  the  ark  of  their  testi- 
mony;  it  is  the  ark  of  their  safety,  and  the  bulwark  of  their 
liberties.     Without  its  sanctions,  armies,   navies,  victories, 


14  A  nation's  ebenezer. 

constitutions  and  laws,  will  be  as  unsubstantial  as  tbe  phan- 
toms of  a  dream,  and  as  fruitless  of  ultimate  good  as  the 
convulsions  of  an  earthquake.  If  France^  in  the  wild  de- 
lirium of  her  revolution,  abolished  the  Bible,  and  closed  the 
churches  in  order  to  inaugurate  the  experiment  of  a  govern- 
ment without  God ;  let  her  dismal  catastrophe  warn  the 
Southern  Confederacy  to  reinstate  the  Bible  to  its  pUce,  and 
to  constitute  every  church  a  Shiloh  for  the  gathering  of  the 
people. 

4.  To  honor  God  aright,  a  nation  must  inculcate  upon  the 
succeeding  generation,  the  recognition  of  his  Providence. 
It  was  made  imperative  upon  the  Israelites,  thus  to  transmit 
the  remembrance  of  their  deliverance.  The  obligation  upon 
us  is  precisely  the  same.  Parents  must  rehearse  it  to  their 
children.  Scenes  like  those  through  which  we  have  passed, 
will  become  the  glowing  narratives  of  after  times.  Sires 
will  repeat  them  with  enthusiasm,  and  inquisitive  childhood 
will  listen  with  wonder.  Let  tradition  perform  its  office,  by 
imparting,  with  its  lessons,  the  recognition  of  God.  But 
history  has  also  a  sacred  duty  to  discharge,  in  recording 
the  events  of  this  war.  It  will  be  incomplete,  by  whomso- 
ever written,  if  it  omit  a  chapter  on  the  Providence  of  God, 
and  the  invocation  of  it  by  the  people.  God,  it  is  true,  is 
in  all  history,  because  he  is  in  the  facts  of  history.  Yet, 
it  has  become  customary  for  history  to  ignore  God,  as  if  he 
had  nothing  to  do  with  its  affairs,  and  if  it  were  impertinent 
to  introduce  his  name  in  the  annals  of  men.  The  pride  of 
the  human  heart  is  intolerant  of  God,  and  historians  are 
too  obsequious  to  its  dictates.  They  collect  and  arrange 
their  materials ;  they  philosophize  upon  them.  But  their 
philosopy  knows  not  God.  The  true  philosophy  of  history 
is  Divine  Providence,  and  history  is  the  real  exponent  of 
events  only  as  it  illustrates  the  interposition  of  Providence. 
Those  who  undertake  the  task  of  committing  to  posterity 
the  record  of  our  times,  will  be  guilty  of  a  startling  derelic- 
tion, if  the  manifest  and  acknowledged  hand  of  God  be  dis- 
carded from  their  pages.     Faithful   history  will,  therefore, 


A    nation's    EBENEZER.  15 

•erect  its  Ebenezer,  and  inscribe  upon  its  volume,  "  Hitherto 
hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 

5.  God  is  honored  by  national  oblations.  *-To  do  good 
and  to  communicate  forget  not,  for  Avith  such  sacrifices, 
•God  is  well  pleased,"  is  a  Christian  maxim,  binding,  not 
only  upon  individuals,  but  upon  communities.  It  devolves 
upon  them,  as  an  expression  of  their  gratitude,  to  present 
their  offerings  at  his  altar.  Nor  need  we  be  at  a  loss  to 
•discover  the  character  of  the  required  oblations.  They  are 
those  acts  and  measures  of  public  utility  and  beneficence 
which  every  nation  has  it  in  its  power  to  execute.  Such  is 
the  perfect  benevolence  of  the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  that 
his  glory  i»  enhanced  and  his  goodness  is  requited  by  every 
plan  which  promotes  the  virtue  and  the  happiness  of  his 
creatures.  We  repay  his  kindness,  by  displaying  our  own. 
It  is  a  debt,  therefore,  which  a  nation  owes  to  God,  to  employ 
its  resources  in  alleviating  the  sufferings  and  improving  th« 
-condition  of  humanity,  especially  within  its  own  limits; 
to  furnish  relief  to  the  poor,  asylums  to  the  wretched,  and 
oducation  to  the  ignorant;  not  only  to  secure  the  rights,  but 
to  exalt  the  happiness  of  its  citizens.  Upon  us,  in  the  very 
progress  of  our  arms,  is  thrown  an  immense  responsibility 
of  this  kind.  The  ravages  of  war  have  left  behind  them 
the  wreck  of  many  a  fortune,  the  desolation  of  many  a  fam- 
ily, and  the  mutilation  of  many  a  soldier,  to  excite  our  sen- 
sibilities and  to  invoke  our  aid.  The  magnitude  of  the  ca- 
lamity appeals  to  the  national  heart,  and  its  redress  demands 
nothing  less  than  a  natural  response.  In  rendering  that 
redress,  we  shall  glorify  God  ;  we  shall  honor  ourselves.  A 
people  and  individuals  reach  the  pinnacle  of  their  perfection, 
and  are  clothed  with  their  highest  attributes,  when  they  re- 
semble God  in  the  tenderness  of  their  sympathies  and  the 
munificence  of  their  charities. 

"No  radiant  pearl  which  crested  fortune  wears  ; 
No  gem  that  twinkling  hangs  from  beauty's  ears, 
Not  the  bright  stars  whicli  night's  blue  arch  adorns, 
Nor  rising  sun  that  gilds  the  vernal  morn, 
Shine  with  such  lustre  as  the  tear  that  breaks 
Foi  others^  woe  down  virtue's  manly  cheeks." 


}C  A    nation's    EBENEZER^ 

With  the  discussion  of  the  subject  I  have  done.  I  have 
taken  advantage  of  vou  by  its  length,  but  my  apology  is 
found  in  the  occasion  itself.  I  will  detain  you  only  a  few 
minutes  longer,  with  some  concluding  reflections. 

1.  Let  us  observe  the  pleasing  contrast  which  we  witnesS' 
between  the  services  of  this  day  and  those  which  we  performed,, 
as  a  nation,  a  few  months  ago.  Then,  smitten  with  reverses, 
we  fled  to  the  throne  of  grace.  At  the  summons  of  our  Chief 
Magistrate,  we  publicly  prostrated  ourselves  before  God  in 
humiliation  and  prayer ;  then  we  were  clothed  in  sackcloth  and 
lay  down  in  ashes;  then  a  dark  cloud,  with  its  murky 
folds,  settled  upon  our  sky,  and  the  voice  of  lamenta- 
tion and  confession  ascended  to  the  Lord  of  Ho^ts.  I  well 
remember  that  period  of  depression  and  apprehension,  when 
our  arrogant  and  exulting  foe  seemed  to  be  at  the  point  of 
grasping  his  coveted  prize.  Soldier  after  soldier,  fort  after 
fort,  and  city  after  city,  fell  into  his  hands.  Our  own  wa& 
ijivested  with  frowning  batteries  and  bristling  bayonets,  and 
its  capitulation  predicted  with  prophetic  confidence.  It  was 
lu:  hour  of  gloom ;  and  -one  might  have  recalled,  with  apt- 
ness, the  thrilling  stanza  which  recorded  the  catas-trophe  of 
I'oland: 

'MIope,  for  a  season,  bade  the  world  fayewell, 
And  Freedom  shrieked  as  Kosciusko  fcll.'^ 

To-day,  the  scene  is  changed.  Another  summons,  from 
tlic  same  official  source,  brings  us  together  again  at  the 
footstool  of  God  ,  not  to  weep,  but  to  laugh  ;  not  to  lament, 
but  to  give  thanks  ;  not  to  practice  a  fast,  but  to  hold  a  fes- 
tival ;  to  put  on  *•  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  jo-y  for  mourn- 
ing, and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness." 
Lito  the  object  of  these  exercises  we  all  enter.  Gladness- 
fills  our  hearts,  cheerfulness  animates  our  countenances,, 
and  songs  of  deliverance  are  ready  to  burst  from  our  lips. 
The  lowering  storm  has,  for  a  season,  passed  away ;  the 
cloud,  charged  with  thunder,  has  rolled  oft',  and  the  long  ob- 
scured sun  shines  with  unwonted  splendor  upon  the  dwellinga 
of  a  rejoicing  population. 


.ANATIONSEBENEZER.  17 

2.  Our  pleasures,  to-day,  though  rich  and  hallowed,  are 
not  unmingled  .with  sentiments  of  a  different  character; 
sentiments  well  calculated  to  temper  and  subdue  the  tone  of 
our  exultation.  Our  work,  on  the  one  hand,  is  not  yet  ac- 
complished, and,  on  the  other,  it  is  full  of  painful  recollec- 
tions. Our  victories  have  been  purchased  at  a  high  price, 
and  have  entailed  unutterable  anguish  on  countless  families. 
Many  an  aged  matron  bewails  the  loss  of  a  favorite  son,  and 
the  grey  hairs  of  many  a  venerable  sire  will  go  down  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave.  The  heart  of  many  a  widow  has  been 
broken  with  grief,  and  many  an  orphan  has  been  thrown 
upon  the  cold  charities  of  the  world.  Many  a  brave  man 
has  moistened  the  soil  with  his  blood,  and  slept  his  last  sleep 
upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  left  his  bones  to  bleach  and  to 
moulder  under  the  suns  of  summer  and  the  frosts  of  winter. 
How  truthful,  how  touching  are  the  poet's  words  with  re- 
spect to  the  encounter  of  armies  in  the  shock  of  war  : 

•'  Few,  few  shall  part  where  many  meet,  ^ 

The  snow  shdl  be  their  winding  sheet. 
And  every  turf  beneath  their  feet 
Shall  be  a  soldier's  sepulchre." 

Thus  has  it  been  with  us  on  many  a  hard  fought  field.  1  do 
not  recall  these  melancholy  incidents  to  impair  your  enjoy- 
ments, but  to  impart  to  them  sobriety  and  moderation.  The 
most  gorgeous  phenomenon  in  nature,  whether  in  heaven 
or  on  earth,  is  the  rainbow,  as  its  grand  arch  reposes  on  the 
darkened  bosom  of  the  retiring  cloud.  It  is  produced  by 
the  refraction  of  the  sun's  light  through  falling  drops  of 
rain ;  so,  through  our  tears,  the  Providence  of  God  is  seen 
in  a  milder,  but  not  a  less  resplendent  light. 

3.  Wc  have  encouragement  to  look  with  confidence  to  the 
future,  trusting  that  he  who  hath  helped  us  "  hitherto," 
will  continue  to  help  us  until  this  great  contest  shall  have 
ended.  Let  us  not  suspend,  let  us  not  transfer  our  faith 
from  Divine  to  human  agency.  Let  the  mercies  of  our  past 
history  augment  the  hopes  of  that  which  is  to  come.  Let 
no  flush  of  triumph,  no  repose   from    fear,  flatter  us,  for  a 

2 


18  A    nation's    EBENEZER. 

moment,  into  self-confidence.  Let  us  avoid  the  error  into 
which  the  grand  victory  of  last  year  betrayed  us.  The 
drama  of  our  present  campaign  is,  we  have  reason  to  hope, 
hastening  to  its  close.  It  comprises  three  acts,  with  shifting 
scenes.  Two  have  passed.  One  transpired  on  the  banks 
of  the  Chickahorainy,  with  all  its  paraphranalia  of  horror 
and  of  blood.  Another,  on  the  twice  memorable  plains  of 
Manassas,  on  which  the  shout  of  the  conqueror  has  as  often 
resounded.  The  third  is  now  preparing.  Its  machinery  is 
concealed.  We  desire  to  penetrate  the  veil,  but  we  cannot. 
Let  us  await  the  issue  with  patience  and  fortitude.  The 
curtain  will  presently  rise.  Let  us  hope,  in  God,  that  it  will, 
ere  long,  reveal  the  transcendent  climax  of  all  our  victories ; 
the  enemy  brought  to  terms  ;  the  country  delivered  from  op- 
pression ;  industry  restored  to  its  accustomed  channels  ; 
prosperity  tilling  the  land  with  abundance  ;  a  happy  people  ; 
and  a  God  enthroned  in  the  temple  of  our  liberties !  And 
unto  Him  shall  be  ascribed  all  majesty  and  might,  dominion 
and  power,  forever  and  ever.      Amen. 


